A Figment of The Imagination
by Teh RiahBott
Summary: Even though I'd never met her I was in love with Isabella Swan.


Note: I probably shouldn't be writing other stories…but meh! Enjoy!

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Even though I'd never met her I was in love with Isabella Swan. "Just Bella," I remembered her father stating on multiple occasions.

My name is Edward Cullen. The first time I had 'met' Bella Swan was when I was the responding officer to her friend's frantic phone call.

Bella Swan chose to stay home while her friends went out for a night on the town. When they had stumbled home at three in the morning they'd found the front door kicked down and the house a mess.

From what the evidence told us Bella had been cooking in the kitchen when the intruder forced his way into the house. She obviously tried to run and in one last attempt to get away ran upstairs. It appeared she tried to lock herself in the bathroom but the intruder was too fast. He forced his way into the bathroom and rendered her unconscious by slamming her head into the mirror.

The most peculiar aspect to this case, if we were reading the evidence right, was that Bella Swan's abductor gathered some of her favorite things.

From what her friend told us a mixed c.d. of her favorite classical songs, three books and some clothes were missing.

"They were Bella's favorite things," Alice had stated when I had interviewed her.

Bella's friends were quite the mismatched group. The graceful pixie Alice, the high school sweethearts Ben and Angela and the golden retriever Mike.

He- Mike Newton- was my first suspect, I had no reasoning other than the fact that he admitted to being in love with Bella Swan and I was jealous.

It appeared that Bella was the glue that held the group together.

Without Bella, Mike had no reason to stick around.

Without Bella, Ben and Angela, in fear, became less social.

Without Bella, Alice had no family.

Mary Alice Brandon was abandoned as a child and adopted by Chief Charlie Swan of Forks, Washington.

Alice was placed in a home in the little town and ended up in the same kindergarten class as Bella. The rest was history, they were inseparable.

Alice grew closer to me and my family and quickly became infatuated with my adoptive brother, Jasper.

Jasper was from Texas, there his mother had beaten and worked him to the bone in hopes of having the perfect solider to replace his father, a military man who had passed away.

Emmett- my other brother- parents were neglectful and one day he wandered into the woods where he was mauled by a bear. Some hikers found him and Carlisle was his attending doctor.

Carlisle and Esme were the epitome of compassion and love. Carlisle, despite his large trust fun, dedicated his life to helping others and became a world renowned surgeon. Esme created and supported several charities to help the less fortunate.

The last one in our family is Rosalie. Her and Emmett met at sixteen, married at eighteen and have been together a total of seven years.

We are all now twenty three.

I had received that fateful call when I was twenty two.

The hardest part to this case was that all the obvious suspects had been cleared, although there were only two.

Jacob Black had known Bella Swan his whole life and had been in love with her just as long. They dated briefly but when she ended things he didn't handle it well. The result? Matching hand shaped bruises on Bella's petite arms.

Felix Volturi is a rich Italian heir who was, putting it nicely, obsessed with Bella. Despite her numerous rejections Felix pursued her almost to the point of stalking.

That was when I wanted to know more about Bella Swan, because what women turned down an attractive man set to inherit millions?

The answer was Bella Swan.

Bella Swan's parents divorced when she was only two. Her mother left and took her daughter with her. Bella grew up in Phoenix taking care of her scatterbrained and slightly immature mother. Despite the distance Bella talked to and visited her father and Alice numerous times. When Bella was sixteen her mother remarried a minor league baseball player and Bella used the opportunity to return home to Forks.

Bella Swan was the most beautiful person I'd ever seen, inside and out. Even my model like sister-in-law was jealous.

According to Alice, Bella didn't think she was anything special.

I spent weeks trying to learn everything I could about Bella Swan and in the end fell in love with her memory.

It was a beautiful summer two years later when the body of a young woman was found in a botanical garden.

DNA confirmed it to be Isabella Swan.

My memories of the crime scene were foggy. Bella had been left floating in a small pond dressed in a beautiful white summer dress with flower petals floating around and on her. It would have been an ethereal scene had her body not been covered in scrapes and bruises and her eyes left wide open. Although her spirit had left a faded look of fear lingered in her eyes.

It appeared Bella's murderer went to great lengths to make sure she looked beautiful despite the cold stiffness of her body.

Her body was cleaned, her scrapes washed and her bruises covered by foundation.

A sign of regret.

I thought that the case would run cold and eventually be closed when a rookie officer made a discovery that cracked it wide open. A used and broken condom was found in the bushes around the body.

Bella's cause of death was strangulation as shown by the vivid hand shaped bruises around her neck. The medical examiner stated that she had been raped multiple times and foreign DNA was found inside her. As the DNA ran the coroner continued to paint a gruesome picture.

Lingering scars around her wrists and ankles indicated that she had been restrained for long periods of time.

She has various broken bones and fractures that he begun to heal improperly, this indicated she never received medical attention.

The worst part was when he stated that one of her ear drums had been ruptured rendering her deaf in one ear.

Bella Swan suffered an atrocity and I couldn't decide whether or not to be relieved because she was no longer suffering or heartbroken because she had lived her last two years alive in pain and fear before her life was ripped away from her.

After confirming the DNA in the condom and the DNA collected from Bella was a match it was run through the database.

It found a match.

James Newmon had an impressive record. Theft, assault and a few domestic disturbance calls from when he was with a women named Victoria.

His apartment was sparse and it was evident he didn't spend much time there.

We were able to find Victoria who informed us of a family cabin a few hours away.

The cabin continued to paint the picture.

The bedroom had a lock on the outside of the door and inside handcuff were still attached to the bed frame. Blood covered the bed and surrounding walls.

James had restrained Bella either in the bedroom or kitchen and never allowed her to go anywhere.

A study in the basement showed that he had followed Bella for quite some time. The pictures he had had been taking over the span of a year. He had written various love letters but never sent them.

The journal sealed the case. It was filled with ramblings of false memories of the past three years of their lives. Apparently she was the perfect wife but they were having problems conceiving.

An in depth autopsy revealed heavy scarring of the uterus from the beatings Bella had endured.

Bella was buried on a beautiful summer day in July in Forks, Washington. The whole town had come to pay their respects and various people had flown in as well.

Three weeks later James was apprehended as he tried to flee Chicago. While he plead not guilty he was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Isabella Marie Swan. He is currently serving a life sentence without the chance of parole.

As I thought about the past few years my heart clenched and I found myself wondering if I would still love her as much as I do if I had been able to meet her.

In my heart I knew that I would probably love her more, if that was possible.

My name is Edward Anthony Cullen and I fell in love with the memory of Isabella Marie Swan.


End file.
